SKIERS IN FOURTH AT WEST REGIONAL

Friday, February 27

Crested Butte, Colo.

All Day

Colorado

NCAA West Regional (FS/GS)

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

February 27, 2004 | Skiing

By: David Plati, Assistant AD/Sports Information

CRESTED BUTTE - The University of Colorado ski team ran the gamut of results and settled into fourth place at the midway point of the NCAA West Regional, as the first four events were completed here Friday.

Denver, coming off a win in CU's meet last Saturday, leads with 291 points, while the winners of two meets this winter, New Mexico, is next with 254. Alaska-Anchorage is a surprising third with 239, followed by Colorado (225) and then defending NCAA champion Utah (221). Host Western State is sixth with 174, its highest midway of a meet point total on the season.

CU compiled 140 of its points in the two nordic races, the most by any of the 10 schools competing, but had only 85 tabulated by the alpine skiers, the fifth most by the teams here.

Colorado dominated the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race, as the Buffs placed four finishers in the top eight, led by a third place effort by junior Tor Erik Schjellerud, who skied the course in 27:54.9, and sophomore Henrik Hoye, who grabbed fourth in 28:09.1. Soph Nick Sterling, who has slowly but surely been closing the gap on the field this season, posted the first top 10 finish of his collegiate career, doing so in spectacular fashion as he just missed cracking the top five at the same time, finishing sixth in 28:28.8. Sophomore Erling Christiansen took eighth in 28:41.3, with senior Josh Smullin also recording a 14th place effort in 29:48.2.

"It was a hard race," Schjellerud said. "My body wasn't working 100 percent. I'm happy that I was able to push it hard and get a good finish."

Denver's Erlend Hoff won the race, which featured a staggered start, in 27:14.7, just over seven seconds ahead of Utah's Henning Dybendal. But the Buffs amassed 80 points in the event, topping the Pioneers' 75.

As for the women's 5K version, Alaska-Anchorage's Mandy Kaempf won for the fifth time this winter, cruising to victory in a 15:30.3 clocking. CU junior Jana Rehemaa took second in 15:53.5, but uncharacteristically was not joined by any other teammates in the top 10. Senior Claire Critchley was the next CU finisher (12th in 16:35.5), followed by Muriele Huberli (19th, 17:03.5).

"The course here was predominantly flat, making it tougher on the competitors with no natural areas to glide downhill and build back some energy," Rehemaa said. "I prefer courses that have uphill and downhill areas, we all do. It's the same for everyone, but it takes more out of you. I felt tired at the end, where the (gradual) flat uphill was hard. Usually the skate (freestyle) is a stronger race for me, though I do well in classic and look forward to tomorrow."

Rehemaa has now finished second six times in nine races this year as she is still pursuing her first collegiate victory. "I have more second places than everyone else combined, and hopefully I can soon change that."

"The men did great, the women struggled with the exception of Jana; second seems to be her spot," CU nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. "It wasn't an ideal course for Claire, she had a pretty disappointing race, and Muri just had a tough day. But I'm real happy for the guys, especially for Nick. But it was a tricky course. Being so flat, it doesn't make it easy. You're just focused on pushing yourself the whole time."

On the alpine hill, CU had a day full of struggles. In the women's slalom, where the Buffs are accustomed to placing three finishers in the top 10 or 11, only senior Mia Cullman emerged among the first 13 skiers, as she finished 10th in a two-run time of 1:22.36. Freshman Julie Czesnowski was the second CU woman Friday, claiming 14th in 1:23.48, while two Buffs, sophomore Erika Hogan and senior Erin McEachren, didn't complete their first runs. Hogan crashed into a gate, while McEachren had a ski pop off for the second time in less than a week in a slalom run.

Cullman's stronger suit has been the slalom as compared to the giant slalom. "I've kind of been struggling with taking risks," she said. "It was a disappointing day for us as a team, just kind of a strange day overall. I'm not satisfied with how I skied; I can go faster, I'm just having some technical problems with my skis. They don't turn as easy as my old ones, so I might us last year's skis at NCAA's."

The men have had depth issues all season with only four skiers on the roster, and CU was dealt another blow earlier in the week when senior Mike Read was ruled ineligible for the rest of the year. Read, one time a member of the Canadian National Alpine Team, skied briefly in competition for that team after his 21st birthday but before he enrolled at CU, a recently discovered circumstance that retroactively cost him one year of eligibility. With Read's career now over prematurely, the Buffs are in danger of not qualifying a full team for next month's NCAA's for only the second time in their history; as of Friday, only one CU male alpine skier is assured of a spot at nationals, with two others teetering on the brink of qualifying.

In the men's GS Friday, Utah's Benjamin Thornhill captured the win in 2:23.40, topping Denver's Dominik Schweiger, who was second in 2:23.66. The first Buff on the results sheet was senior Fritz Ernemann, 15th in 2:26.22, followed by freshman Cody Jenick (19th, 2:28.06); junior Tahir Bisic, CU's lone NCAA qualifier at this point, was 26th in 2:30.45. Both Jenick and Bisic had some difficulties with the afternoon runs; Bisic was 12th and Jenick was 16th after their first efforts.

"The first run was extremely long, it was very long and set really wide open, which resulted in high speeds where a mistake would cost a lot," Ernemann said. "Richie (CU head coach Richard Rokos) set the second course, which went really well. Without my mistake (he hit a "roll" and spun in the air a bit), I could have made up more time. I feel really bad for Tahir and Cody, because they were in it and were skiing well."

"It was a tough day at the office, no question about it," Rokos said. "We've been so consistent in (women's) slalom, but today was not our day. We should have had four in the top 10, but everyone was too anxious and tried to push the envelope. The guys didn't have too much of a choice; they went for it and made some mistakes. Fritz can still ski faster; Tahir and Cody made some mistakes, Tahir's costing him time and Cody's missing a gate and he couldn't finish."

Rokos said his team would be focused for Saturday's race, "The girls will be diligent, and today's lesson will play a big part in how they do tomorrow," he said. "We have it pay attention to details and not take unnecessary risks. As for the guys, it will depend how they approach the slalom, but we need to come up with a combination that works with both smarts and some risks. We need to do something in alpine to accentuate what cross country is doing. They've skied tremendous."

The men's slalom, women's giant slalom and cross country classical races will complete the regional Saturday, the final precursor to the NCAA Championships at the Sugar Bowl Ski Resort and Auburn Ski Club in the Lake Tahoe area March 10-13.

NCAA West Regional Team Scores-1. Denver 291; 2. New Mexico 254; 3. Alaska-Anchorage 239; 4. Colorado 225; 5. Utah 221; 6. Western State 174; 7. Montana State 140; 8. Nevada 131; 9. Whitman 103; 10. Boise State 47.

Men's Giant Slalom-1. Benjamin Thornhill, Utah, 2:23.40; 2. Dominik Schweiger, DU, 2:23.66; 3. Michal Rajcan, UN, 2:23.95; 4. Andreas Neuhauser, UAA, 2:24.08; 5. Christian Ringvold, UAA, 2:24.12; 6. Luke Patterson, WSC, 2:24.32; 7. David Lamb, DU, :24.47; 8. Hannes Zirknitzer, WHT, 2:24.81; 9. Todd Ligare, DU, 2:24.95; 10. Einar-Marius Elvrum, UAA, 2:25.20. CU Results: 15. Fritz Ernemann, 2:26.22; 19. Cody Jenick, 2:28.06; 26. Tahir Bisic, 2:30.45.

Women's Slalom-1. Pia Rivelsrud, DU, 1:19.43; 2. Sophie Ormond, DU, and Jennifer Delich, UNM, 1:20.88; 4. Margit Walter, BSU, 1:21.61; 5. April Mancuso, Utah, 1:21.80; 6. Rowena Bright, Utah, 1:21.85; 7. Jennifer Shively, UNM, 1:22.08; 8. Barbara Knor, CU, 1:22.27; 9. Helena Woodrow, UNM, 1:22.36; 10. Mia Cullman, DU, 1:22.36. Other CU Results: 14. Julie Czesnowski, 1:23.48; 18. Sarah Fischer, 1:24.13; 35. Kristin Taylor, 1:57.78; Erika Hogan (DNF, first run); Erin McEachren (DNF, first run).

Men's 10K Freestyle-1. Erlend Hoff, DU, 27:14.7; 2. Henning Dybendal, Utah, 27:22.0; 3. Tor Erik Schjellerud, CU, 27:54.9; 4. Henrik Hoye, CU, 28:09.1; 5. Zach Violett, UAA, 28:19.4; 6. Nick Sterling, CU, 28:28.8; 7. Amund Hansen, DU, 28:39.3; 8. Erling Christiansen, CU, 28:41.3; 9. Benjamin Sonntag, Utah, 28:57.8; 10. Martin Bartnes, DU, 28:59. Other CU Finishers: 14. Josh Smullin, 29:48.2; 22. Tim Damrow, 30:49.4;

Women's 5K Freestyle-1. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 15:30.3; 2. Jana Rehemaa, CU, 15:53.5; 3. Karen Camenisch, DU, 15:59.3; 4. Sari Tuovinen, UN, 16:02.1; 5. Martina Stursova, UNM, 16:12.1; 6. Melody Scheefer, WSC, 16:18.4; 7. Emily Robins, MSU, 16:24.4; 8. Nicole DeYong, UAA, 16:28.1; 9 (tie). Trine Lundamo, UNM, and Tara Hamilton, DU, 16:33.3. Other CU Finishers: 12. Claire Critchley, 16:35.5; 19. Muriele Huberli, 17:03.5; 29. Brooke Rygg, 17:47.6.